Iran's new Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei has pledged retaliation for the killing of his father, Ali Khamenei, calling it an unavoidable national demand in a written statement released Saturday through state media. He said the world's "free people" would soon begin a role in the revenge mission, the message added.
Ali Khamenei, 86, was killed on Feb. 28 in the first wave of joint U.S.-Israeli strikes during the ongoing war. He was buried Friday at the Imam Reza shrine in Mashhad, more than four months after his death.
Mojtaba Khamenei assumed the supreme leader post on March 8 but has not appeared publicly since the strike that killed his father, with multiple reports suggesting he was wounded or disfigured in the same attack. Iranian state outlets have issued several written statements attributed to him in the intervening months.